Old Time Remedies

Pioneer Remedies

By Allison Bond

Before the days of Tylenol and Viagra, people made their own concoctions to treat everything from acne to indigestion. Take a look at some of the bizarre remedies that were once popular, along with a few still in use today.


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Maggot Medicine

Maggots may make your skin crawl, but these white bugs can actually heal cuts and scrapes. The ancient Mayans used the critters in medicine, and in 1829, a surgeon in Napoleon's army noticed that injured soldiers with maggots in their wounds recovered faster than those without them. Today, the insects are gaining popularity in mainstream medicine. By healing wounds even when antibiotics can't stop an infection, maggots speed recovery and eliminate the need for amputation.


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Show Me the Honey

Antioxidant-rich honey increasingly serves as medicine thanks to the soothing effect it has on inflammation and digestion. But the gooey substance's medicinal properties have been hailed since the time of ancient Greek physicians like Aristotle and Dioscorides, along with the Bible, Koran, Vedas and other religious texts. Today, it's a natural remedy for easing a sore throat. It's even been proven to kill certain bacteria and can help heal an infected wound.


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Leave It to Beaver(s)

The beaver, a familiar woodland creature with a penchant for construction, was once sought for its testicles. In fact, the reproductive organs of the poor creature were once considered a cure for impotence and were also ground and mixed with alcohol for an anti-pregnancy brew. The use of beaver testicles was so well-known that many people believed that the animals, knowing what hunters wanted, would rip off their own organs while being chased.


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Leeches Suck

Thousands of years ago, the Greeks used leeches to remove blood from the body. The popular theory of the day held that health depended on the balance of the body's four humors: blood, bile, and black and yellow phlegm. In medieval Europe, bloodletting -- applying leeches to the body -- was considered a remedy to nearly every ailment, from hemorrhoids to mental illness. Today, some physicians are again turning to leeches to eliminate excess blood from swollen tissue.


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You Know the Drill

Old-time doctors apparently really thought some patients needed a hole in the head. The practice was called trepanning and involved removing part of the skull to treat things like headache, mental illness and seizures, and to increase concentration. After cutting away the scalp, a piece of the skull was chopped or scraped away, revealing the brain and the membrane that covers it.

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An Apple a Day

Apple cider vinegar is one of the world's oldest medicines. Around 400 B.C., Hippocrates, known as the father of modern medicine, began prescribing vinegar as a tonic to his patients to treat a variety of ailments. In fact, it's still used today as a treatment for conditions like indigestion or high cholesterol.


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Hard to Swallow

Sanitized tapeworms were advertised as a way to lose weight in the early 1900s without eating less or exercising more. When American opera great Maria Callas lost almost 80 pounds in the mid-1950s, it was rumored she dropped the weight by swallowing a tapeworm, which consumed part of whatever she ate. A professor at the University of Tokyo also has hosted the parasites in his gut for over five years. He says it's helped him maintain his health and slender physique.


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Pissing Mad

For thousands of years, people in India and many other cultures have drunk their own urine to combat stomach problems and improve overall health. "Urine therapy," which some still practice today, also can include massaging urine into your skin. In the late 1970s, India's former prime minister, a firm believer in urine therapy, hailed the practice as the perfect solution for the many Indians who could not afford healthcare.


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Worms, Worms, Everywhere

There are over 15,000 parasitic species of roundworm, and the ancient Chinese found plenty of ways to use them. Ground roundworm applied to the eye was a remedy for eye lesions; when mixed with camphor, it was a treatment for lip sores. A roasted roundworm mixed with oils and inserted into a man's penis was thought to prevent impotence. Viva Viagra!


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